NaNoWriMo Is Almost Here

With National Novel Writing Month beginning in thirteen days - I am pleased to report that I have a storyline for my book.  Yes, you hear a sigh of relief from me.  NaNo is enough of a challenge; I don't need to go in themeless, thank you very much.

I had the first spark-of-an-idea for this book a couple of years ago.  I made some notes and played around with it in my head but nothing came of it.  So the idea has sat in my notebook just waiting for my brain to grasp onto it more tightly.  Now that the story has started to grow - I can't wait to actually start writing it.

While I wait for November First, I have been making more notes about my characters and attempting to name them.  You'll notice that I said 'attempting'.  Normally, I have a lot of fun naming my characters but nothing is gelling for me this go around.  There are a few names I like but nothing that is making me feel the connection between character and name.  It's actually rather like naming children.  Obviously not nearly as important but there does have to be a click and a sense of familiarity in the naming process.  For those who have ever named a child - does this scenario sound familiar?

"How about the name Charles?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"There was a dude named Charles in my high school Geometry class."

"So?"

"So, we all called him upChuck, like barf."

"Gross.  No to Charles."

Yes, this is exactly the type of conversation my husband and I had while naming our children.  And yes, it's a very similar thing that goes through my head while naming characters.  So, while I'm anxious for NaNo to start;  I'm glad I still have some time to figure out my names.